Dallas' upcoming schedule is no picnic. They're on a 5 game winning streak, but they face CHI tomorrow then VAN, STL, LA, SJ, CBJ, DET. So those teams minus CBJ (depending on standings at the time) need to beat Dallas to give up some semblance of breathing room, but only if PHX and CBJ drops games along the way. In the meantime, Detroit has to absolutely win at least 4 of their remaining 7 games, if not more. It's possible with their upcoming schedule. They just have to want it bad enough.

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Which pains me to say I'm just not sure how badly they want the playoffs based on their play this year. Guess they'll have to make it a point to shut up the doubters.

Count me in, but don't count me out,You can't shut me up, you can't shut me down,Fight through the hurt, Fight through the pain,Without the ache there is no gain,We live our lives for the love of the gamePillar - For the Love of the Game

The crazy thing is if we catch a winning streak here we could be looking as high as 5-6 seed instead of 9th... It's crazy how close the playoff race is... The big games will be us vs Phoenix and Dallas...

The crazy thing is if we catch a winning streak here we could be looking as high as 5-6 seed instead of 9th... It's crazy how close the playoff race is... The big games will be us vs Phoenix and Dallas...

We want to finish 7th. Best matchup is against the Ducks. 5th would not be good. Someone else can play the Kings. Jimmy completely stole our last win against them. We had no business winning that one.

Honestly, aside from Chicago, there aren't really any "scary" teams in the West. Minnesota makes me a little nervous, just because they could be one of those teams to surprise people, especially if they play the Wings. The Suter/Parise storyline alone puts me ill at ease because the Wings were so close to landing Suter. Which of course means they would beat us.

Chicago plays our style of game, but plays it much, much better. We can beat Anaheim, Vancouver, Dallas, and St. Louis. Los Angeles is a bit of a question mark. Seven game series, I think, 50/50. So as long as we get into the playoffs, I think we can at least make 2nd round provided we avoid Chicago.

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Minnesota's interesting - agree they would be "scary" in the playoffs because they have the goaltending, and Parise could take charge. That being said, while the Pominville thing is "working", they are all of 3-6-1 in their last 10, and Suter has some type of undisclosed injury that caused him to leave a game early, but hasn't kept him out of the lineup yet. Pretty much no chance we play them in Round 1, though, unless we both somehow surged to the 4/5 seeds.

Columbus is 7-3 in their last 10 and added players at the deadline. They also possibly have the best goaltending in the league right now, so I do worry about them jumping us for #8. The one problem for them is that their Regulation & Overtime Wins (ROW) total is only 15, which is several fewer than MIN, STL, DET, and DAL.

Honestly, aside from Chicago, there aren't really any "scary" teams in the West. Minnesota makes me a little nervous, just because they could be one of those teams to surprise people, especially if they play the Wings. The Suter/Parise storyline alone puts me ill at ease because the Wings were so close to landing Suter. Which of course means they would beat us.

Chicago plays our style of game, but plays it much, much better. We can beat Anaheim, Vancouver, Dallas, and St. Louis. Los Angeles is a bit of a question mark. Seven game series, I think, 50/50. So as long as we get into the playoffs, I think we can at least make 2nd round provided we avoid Chicago.

I'd be nervous with Chicago, but the team that would kick the s*** out of us unless Howie stands on his head and we get some bounces is LA. I see a WCF of Chicago vs LA now that St. Louis has zero consistency. I still want Duck Soup!